Christopher Sowton ND

I am a naturopath, homeopath, and dreamworker with a practice in downtown Toronto. I have a particular interest in helping my patients understand the patterns that hold them back from better health and a greater sense of fulfillment. These patterns are reflected in chronic symptoms, in repetitively stuck life situations, and (perhaps most dramatically) in the dream life.

More recently, I have focused on training healthcare practitioners of many kinds to integrate dreamwork into their own practices. I have developed a dreamworking method which can be used by practitioners facilitating their clients, and by non-practitioners who are trying to get more out of their own personal dreams. In 2016, I published Dreamworking: How to Listen to the Inner Guidance of Your Dreams.

Dreamwork

I have been influenced in this area of my work by Carl Jung and many of the more recent Jungians. In 1985 I watched Fraser Boa’s film series “The Way of the Dream,” which features the remarkable dream interpretation skills of Marie Louise Von Franz. This was a profound influence for me and since that time I have never doubted that dreams provide us with critically important information.

In the late 1980s, Dr. Jim McNamara of Toronto was an important teacher for me, particularly in the areas of gestalt therapy and primal therapy. Also around this time I encountered the work of Dr. Graham Farrant, an Australian primal therapist who focused particularly on the earliest experiences of human life: sperm, egg, conception, implantation, gestation, birth and infancy. Through this work I came to understand that many people have significant ‘incarnation’ (coming into the body) issues which continue to influence their lives and perceptions.

My current practice is a blend of counselling and homeopathy, with an emphasis on dreamwork, active imagination and depth psychology. There are strong traces of the Jungian, Gestalt, and Primal models in my work, all of which form a natural and synergistic union with classical homeopathy.

Since 2003 I have been videotaping clients telling their dreams, and exploring, together with me, their possible meanings and relevance. Using this body of material, I have developed a dreamworking method for health care practitioners who would like to do more formal and focused work with their clients’ dreams.

I teach regular seminars and workshops in this method, have written articles on dreamwork for several healthcare publications and in 2016 I published a book, Dreamworking: How to Listen to the Inner Guidance of Your Dreams.

I am a founding member of the Toronto Region of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), which runs regular events for all those interested in dreamwork, and speak regularly at their international conference.

Homeopathy and Naturopathy

Since graduating from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1988, I have had many advanced teachers in the wide world of homeopathy, each of whom has contributed a different perspective to my understanding: Andre Saine, Jeremy Sherr, Rajan Sankaran, Jan Scholten and Alize Timmerman have all been important teachers for me.

As a teacher, I have worked since 1990 in the homeopathy department at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto. Together with my colleague Nadia Bakir, I have helped develop a program which provides future naturopaths with a solid foundation in classical Hahnemannian homeopathy, and also an introduction to newer developments in the homeopathic world.

As a researcher, I feel dedicated to the process of bringing new substances into the service of healing as potential medicines; I have conducted and published several new provings of homeopathic remedies, including:

I have had a lifelong interest in the healing powers of plants. When the Naturopathic College moved to its new location at Leslie and Sheppard in Toronto, I felt it was time for the development of a world-class herb garden where students could meet and relate to the medicinal plants that they are studying in the classroom.

I designed the Paracelsus Herb Garden, where some 300 medicinal plants can be found in a setting which is both beautiful and educational, and I can still be found there on gardening days throughout the season indulging my passion for gardening.